Telescoping poles typically use a standard twist-locking cam, which consists of a primary pole with a threaded collar that compresses the secondary pole when the cam is twisted. In a similar structure, other telescoping poles use an off-centered inner pole which when twisted engages with the outer pole to frictionally lock the poles together. These threaded and compression type locking features that are complex in operation, are subject to jamming due to debris and wear rapidly reducing their utility.
Yet other variations utilize a movable ball bearing that engages in sockets in the inner pole when a collar at the junction of the two nested poles is twisted. Here again twisting action is needed to engage the lock using a complicated mechanism with a disconnected ball bearing.
A locking mechanism has been described that employs an internal leaf spring within the inner rod. The internal leaf spring causes a detent to engage each time the detent meets a hole in the outer rod. This locking mechanism requires that a person press to push the detent out of the hole each time the detent meets a hole in the outer rod and auto engages with it. There is no means to hold the detent in a disengaged position while making changes in length that spans more than one hole in the outer rod. This art does not provide for release of the lock by pushing and holding of buttons during adjustment of handle length beyond the distance between holes.